Abramov Aleksei Petrovich

Abramov Aleksei Petrovich

Biography

In 1990 he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Faculty of Physical and Quantum Electronics.

Through Burokrat LLC, he is a co-owner of Realist Bank.

At various times, he was a co-founder of several companies working in the field of private security.

Co-founder, co-owner of Merlion, which under its current name has been operating in the market since 2004, but its history of development dates back even more than 10 years. The company's history began in 1992 as a small PC assembly firm. Other co-owners of Merlion are Vladislav Mangutov and Oleg Karchev.

2020: Detention

In October 2020, sources told TAdviser about searches at Merlion. And on October 24, a petition was registered in the Khoroshevsky Court of Moscow to elect Alexei Abramov a preventive measure in the form of detention. He was detained in criminal cases under Articles 167, Part 2 and 105, Part 2, paragraph e) g), follows from the file cabinet of the Moscow courts. With the indication of similar articles in the file cabinet, petitions were registered for the election of the same preventive measure to Vladislav Mangutov and Oleg Karchev. Read more here.

2021

Person involved in the attempted murder of the ex-CEO of Merlion

In January 2021, TAdviser became known that the former general director of Merlion, Vyacheslav Simonenko, is a victim in the case in which the co-owners of Merlion were arrested in 2020. His name appeared in the ruling of the appellate instance, published on the official portal of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow, following an open meeting in the Moscow City Court in December. Read more here.

On January 28, 2021, a group of lawyers for top Merlion managers voiced TAdviser their position in a criminal case in which the former Merlion CEO Vyacheslav Simonenko is the victim. According to lawyers, their clients completely deny the charge against them. Read more here.

The period 2019-2020. surpassed all past times in the number of arrested celebrities of the IT industry. Some of them have been under house arrest since their arrest, and some have been in jail for long months while the investigation and trial are underway, even after repeated attempts to get a milder measure of restraint. TAdviser closely monitors the development of the most resonant criminal cases, and industry associations are developing measures to mitigate pressure. Read more in a separate article.

Exit from the pre-trial detention center

Alexei Abramov and Vladislav Mangutov were released from the pre-trial detention center in early April 2021, representatives of their defense told TAdviser. Merlion clarified that they were not assigned any preventive measure instead of a pre-trial detention center. Two other defendants in the case - Oleg Karchev and Boris Levin - were still in jail at that time. Read more here.

Investing in dating service OneStepDating

On August 5, 2021, it became known about the investment of $570 thousand in OneStepDating. The Russian dating service has raised funds from Alexei Abramov, co-owner of the Merlion group of companies. As a result of the financial transaction, the startup was valued at $2.85 million. Read more here.

2022

Criminal case on attempted murder of ex-Merlion CEO closed

The Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia terminated the criminal case against the co-owners of Merlion Alexei Abramov, Oleg Karchev, Vladislav Mangutov, as well as against Boris Levin due to the absence of the event of the crimes he is charged with, i.e. on rehabilitating their grounds. This was announced on February 21, 2022 by TAdviser, a representative of the defense of co-owners Merlion. Read more here.

Joining the list of the largest IT billionaires in Russia

In August 2022, TAdviser compiled the first list of the largest IT billionaires in Russia. Alexey Abramov shared fifth, sixth and seventh places in it with Oleg Karchev and Vladislav Mangutov (more).

Obtaining a share of Vladislav Mangutov in Merlion

In August 2022, Merlion co-founder Vladislav Mangutov got rid of his entire stake in the company, transferring it to another co-owner of the IT distributor Alexei Abramov. Read more here.

Lawsuit against the criminal community

Co-owners of Merlion Alexei Abramov and Oleg Karchev, as well as former co-owner Vladislav Mangutov and former top manager of the company Boris Levin filed a lawsuit totaling 2.2 billion rubles against former top manager of the company Vyacheslav Simonenko, two former employees of the RF IC Alexei Nesnov and Alexander Kireev and other defendants in the criminal case. This became known at the end of February 2023. Read more here.

2024: Transfer of assets to a new holding

At the end of November 2024, it became known about the transfer to the new holding JSC Merlion of shares in the companies of the Merlion group, which belonged to its co-founder Alexa Abramov. This is evidenced by the data of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRUL).

As Interfax reports with reference to this register, Merlion JSC has consolidated 100% of the following companies: Citylink LLC, Merlion Investments LLC, Merlion Distibucia LLC, Merlion Fintech LLC, Merlion Consult LLC, Merlion Online LLC, Merlion Fintech LLC, Merlion Technologies Merlion Group. In addition, Merlion JSC received 100% of two more legal entities of the group - Realist-Invest LLC and Computer Clinic Network LLC.

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Merlion

Leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global Natalya Milchakova, in a conversation with Rb.RU, noted that changes in the composition of Merlion owners are not the first time. Earlier, several Russian individuals became the owners. The expert suggested that this may be due to the fact that companies of Russian origin have become risky to remain under the control of the Cypriot owner since 2022.

Now the owner has become a joint-stock company registered in the Russian Federation. Why one of the owners transferred his share to a legal entity that has the same name as the Cyprus offshore is still unclear, but it is quite possible that such a reshuffle is due to the fact that the company intends to make the structure of its shareholders more transparent, says Milchakova.

According to Milchakova, it cannot be ruled out that Citylink may enter the stock exchange in the future, but it will not necessarily be an IPO.

It can also be a bond issue, because for issuers of any equity securities in Russia, the openness and transparency of the structure of owners is of great importance, since potential investors in securities are always interested in this issue, the expert concluded.[1]

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